When the pain didn't go away, the Edmonton Oilers goaltender decided to undergo off-season surgery to repair the problem.

Now despite the NHL lockout, Khabibulin is still collecting his paycheck, rehabilitating the injury with the Oilers training staff.

"It started bugging me sometime after Christmas and it never really went away, so I did the surgery after the season," said Khabibulin on Monday following an on-ice workout.

"I've been back basically in Edmonton since training camp was supposed to start, trying to work on things and trying to get better. It's really only been a week or two since I've been taking shots. It was good enough to skate with the trainers."

Khabibulin played through the pain last season, finishing the year as a backup to Devan Dubnyk.

In 40 appearances, Khabibulin posted a 12-20-7 record with a 2.65 goals against average and .910 save percentage.

He has one year left on his original four-year deal that pays him $3.75-million for this season.

If the NHL were playing, Khabibulin would likely not be, at this point in the year.

"There are a few things that I would like to improve, feeling-wise," he said. "I don't know how much time we will get but I think it's getting better every week. We'll see how it is.

"Injuries are never fun. Any surgery is hard to rehab, especially when you get older, it seems like it takes a little more time than it would when you are younger. But it is what it is, and I still want to play. The good thing is that the doctor said once it was fixed, it's going to be better than it ever was. I was very encouraged by that."

Khabibulin believes the injury is a result of the rigours of being and NHL goaltender for the past 16 seasons.

This would have been the Russian goaltender's 17th NHL season.

"I think so, I don't think butterfly is good for a human being," he smiled. "If you do it often enough, it'll take its toll."

Khabibulin had the surgery in April, and at the time, was told it would be a six-to-eight month recovery process. So to him, the lockout has been a blessing in disguise.

"It's really hard to put a real time frame on it," he said. "Being a goalie, because of the other positions I have to get into, you have to feel 100% before you're ready to play. As much as the lockout sucks, selfishly speaking, I do have a little more time right now to get back. On a personal level it's been beneficial.

"But you never want to miss any time playing. It is what it is, I guess. None of the lockouts are fun or good for anybody. In the last lockout, I was able to go back to Russia and play and this time, I'm rehabbing so it's different."

Khabibulin, 39, is one of a handful of players who have been through all three NHL work stoppages.

He would like to see a resolution to the dispute, but is not holding his breath on recent development where owners and players will meet Tuesday without the presence of their head representatives.

"You kind of try to get optimistic and then you hear that nothing really happen and they're really far apart," Khabibulin said. "I'm optimistic on some levels but I don't want to jump the gun and say we're getting somewhere until something does happen."